Lookahead to the 2025 Season: Top Storylines to Follow

Lookahead to the 2025 Season: Top Storylines to Follow

With 2025 around the corner, all of the best tennis players in the world are busy with pre-season training and preparation. No doubt many have big goals for the upcoming year, but not everyone can hoist the biggest trophies on the calendar.

There will be lots of exciting action to come over the next several months as we discover who will rise to the top. Below, we look ahead at a few storylines to follow in what will surely be an enticing season:

Will Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz maintain their reign at the Slams?

Splitting the four majors in 2024, Jannik Sinner (UTR Rating 16.38) and Carlos Alcaraz (UTR 16.29) proved they are best in class when it comes to the most important moments on the court. The duo also won four of the nine ATP Masters 1000 tournaments. Their fellow ATP players will certainly be looking to break up that monopoly in 2025.

Read More: Sinner, Alcaraz Top Year-end Rankings by UTR Rating

Will we get a first-time Slam champion?

Sinner was the only first-time Slam champion in 2024 across both the ATP and WTA Tours, and he ultimately won two. There were four first-time finalists, however, in Taylor Fritz (UTR 16.11), Zheng Qinwen (UTR 12.95), Jasmine Paolini (UTR 12.68), and Jessica Pegula (UTR 12.76) — who will all be looking to go one step further in 2025. There are also some longtime stalwarts of Slam success still looking for their first major, such as Alexander Zverev (UTR 16.14) and Andrey Rublev (UTR 15.74).

How will the newest Top 10 players fare?

Between both tours, four players made their Top 10 debuts in 2024 and ultimately ended the year inside the elite group – Paolini, Zheng, Emma Navarro(UTR 12.77), and Alex de Minaur (UTR 15.91). Each had stellar seasons to earn the promotion but will now have the spotlight on them heading into the new season. Can they maintain their form? Backing up their breakout seasons and maintaining their place in the Top 10 – or even continuing their rise – would show they are definitely right where they belong.

Can Novak Djokovic return to the top?

With Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray retiring in 2024, Novak Djokovic (UTR 16.23) is now the last player standing of the original Big 4 that dominated the sport for years. At age 37 – he’ll be 38 in May – Djokovic is still playing top-tier tennis but he did not win a major this year for the first time since 2017. With 24 Slam singles titles, he already holds the ATP record for most majors, but we’ll see if the current ATP world No. 7 can add another one in 2025.

Novak Djokovic poses with Andy Murray.

Will 2024’s youngest rising stars keep rising?

There are just three teenagers inside the year-end Top 100, and all had big gains through 2024 to cement their status as rising stars. The most well-known of the trio may be Mirra Andreeva (UTR 12.77), the only teenager not only in the WTA Top 100 but also the Top 20. The 17-year-old, who started the year at No. 46, is now world No. 16, notably making the French Open semifinals and winning her first WTA title in Iasi, Romania.

On the men’s side, both No. 48-ranked Jakub Mensik (UTR 15.34) and No. 50 Shang Juncheng (UTR 15.44) are 19 years old and rose by more than 100 spots through the season. Mensik, the 2024 ATP Newcomer of the Year, took down two Top 10 players in Grigor Dimitrov and Andrey Rublev en route to the quarterfinals at the ATP Masters 1000 in Shanghai, while Shang won his first ATP title in Chengdu.

Read More: Gauff, Swiatek Lead Year-End UTR Rankings

Can Ons Jabeur and Maria Sakkari reclaim their place at the top?

Ons Jabeur (UTR 12.46) and Maria Sakkari (UTR 12.56) suffered similar fates in 2024, with shoulder injuries forcing each to curtail their seasons early (Jabeur hasn’t played since Toronto in early August and Sakarri since the US Open). Both have been members of the WTA Top 10 since 2021 and have seen their rankings tumble with their inactivity, Jabeur to No. 42 and Sakkari to No. 32.

When they return in 2025, hopefully back to full healthy form, it will be interesting to see if they can take their places back in the single-digit ranks.

Read more about UTR Sports, UTR Rating

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